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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366730">'Not Your Concern'</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathBecomesNerds/pseuds/DeathBecomesNerds'>DeathBecomesNerds</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Gentlemen (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:07:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathBecomesNerds/pseuds/DeathBecomesNerds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a failed attack from the Russians, Raymond and Mickey discover that Ray's girlfriend isn't just a pretty face.<br/>Prequel to: The Unfortunate Reunion</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Raymond Smith/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>'Not Your Concern'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TW: Slight mentions of violence and gore(?).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She was home alone. He didn’t even think about it until him and Mickey killed 3 armed Russians at the pub. Again. It never crossed Raymond’s mind that they would come back. Not after 3 attempts with absolutely no success. </p><p>But as Mickey sped through the streets, all Ray could think was the worst as the line just rang when he called Astrid. Mickey had sent Bunny and Dave ahead, to see if they could stop whoever was ‘dropping by’ Ray’s house--but neither one was picking up their phones either. </p><p>Ray was hyperventilating. <em> Is this how Mickey felt with Ros and Dry Eye? This eternal pit of impending doom? </em></p><p>He could only hope it ended as well as it did with Ros. But he knew Astrid couldn’t hold her own--she was separated from his world for a reason, and now it was going to cost her her life. </p><p>Mickey repeated the same phrase over and over again: <em> It’s fine </em>. It was almost as if he was just as worried--knowing that Ros was secure, but Astrid wasn’t. </p><p>The car jerked into the driveway and Raymond practically threw himself out of the car. Calling out Astrid’s name before flying through his front door and stopped in the stillness of his house. A single pool of blood on his carpet to greet him. </p><p>Ray’s breathing hardened, pulling out his pistol from underneath his coat as he listened within the stillness and silence to finally hear noise coming from his basement. Mickey caught up behind him, Hand Cannon in hand as he stood behind Ray as he inched his way into his house. </p><p>They both heard more noise coming from the basement. Ray noticed the blood trail and raised his gun before gently walking into the corridor and down the stairs. He heard grunting and a quick whispered argument before he, and Mickey behind him, walked into the basement to find 3 dead Russians as well as a blood covered Astrid and Bunny pointing a gun back at them in kind. </p><p>Astrid held tightly onto the fire poker that was currently jammed into the neck of one of the Russians as she dragged him along the floor. She finally looked up to see the startled looks of both Mickey and Ray.</p><p>“Ho-ly Shit.” Mickey said, looking at the mess. </p><p>She stood in place, looking at both of them as Ray tried to process what he was looking at. Never mind the blood, the dead bodies, or even Bunny pointing a fucking gun at him--all Ray saw was Astrid, clearly having just killed a man and covered in blood. </p><p>Astrid let go of the fire poker as she looked at Ray, her breathing erratic to match his when Ray finally put his gun down. </p><p>“Honey…” he gasped out. </p><p>“It was an accident!” Astrid said, tearing up as Ray approached her.</p><p>Mickey looked at the bodies--bullets did not kill these men, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what exactly had happened. “Three tiny accidents.” Mickey said.</p><p>“Four.” Bunny chimed in, getting both Mickey and Ray’s attention “There’s another in the backyard.”</p><p>Mickey huffed, going back up the stairs to see this ‘Fourth Accident’ and leaving Ray alone with Astrid and Bunny, who finally put his gun down. Ray held Astrid’s face in her hands as he looked her over.</p><p>“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he asked, looking all over her body, but unable to determine wounds from just blood splatter.</p><p>“Gov,” Bunny chimed in, Ray looking over at him “I’ve got it covered. Just take the missus upstairs, yeah?” he requested. </p><p>Ray nodded, taking Astrid’s hand before walking her upstairs and out of the basement. He didn’t say a word as he guided her upstairs and through the Master Bedroom and into the Bathroom where he rested her against the counter while dampening a rag to wash the blood off of her face.</p><p>As he got a good look at her face, now clear of any blood or dirt, he noticed the bruise against her cheekbone and frowned “They do that to you?” he asked.</p><p>Astrid turned to look in the mirror and notice the bruise “I don’t know.” she muttered before turning back to him. </p><p>Ray nodded “Right,” he moved away from Astrid and turned on his shower “Take your clothes off and give them to me.” he instructed. </p><p>She swallowed hard before taking off her clothes, the blood having soaked through them all as she handed them all to Ray before he glanced at her blood stained body and nodded at the shower “Wash it all off, I’ll be back in a minute.” he said before leaving the bathroom and bedroom. </p><p>He walked down the stairs, meeting Dave who was about to walk into the basement but Ray stopped him and handed the bloody clothes to him “Burn these,” he instructed, not giving Dave enough time to respond before he walked into the living room and stopped in his tracks by what he saw. </p><p>“Fletcher.”  he seethed. </p><p>The gangly cunt smirked at him “Hello, Darling.” he said.</p><p>Fletcher was tied to a dining chair, his sunglasses hiding his eyepatch from the handiwork Ray had performed on him nearly 8 months ago. Mickey was leaning against the dining table as he stared at Ray. </p><p>“What do you want to do, Ray?” Mickey asked. </p><p>Ray shook his head “I can’t deal with this right now.” he said, walking to his liquor drawer. </p><p>“I think you should!” Fletcher protested “That little girlfriend of yours is quite the problem, she hit me over the head with a shovel, Raymond! You need to get rid of her immediately.” he said.</p><p>Ray glared at Fletcher “Oh, and shack up with you? After--” he stopped himself, the anger getting caught in his throat before he controlled himself again “Shut your mouth.” he said sternly before pouring a glass of Whiskey and leaving the room with it. </p><p>He went back into the bedroom, placing the Whiskey on Astrid’s side of the bed before walking into the bathroom to find Astrid still in the shower, just as he had hoped. Ray leaned against the counter and listened to the water while watching Astrid scrub her body fiercely. </p><p>“Astrid,” he muttered. </p><p>She didn’t respond, continuing to scrub her body til it turned red from irritation. </p><p>Ray sighed “Astrid, do you want to talk about it?” He asked her. </p><p>“No.” She said, scrubbing her skin harder with every stroke. Ray sighed as he watched her wash her hair and body over and over again until she was certain that there was no more blood on her. </p><p>When she finally turned off the shower, Astrid squeezed the ends of her hair to get all of the water out before opening the shower door. Ray waited with a towel to wrap it around her body tight before she took it from him. Ray instructed her to put her pajamas on while he grabbed a small pill from his cabinet and met her on the bed. </p><p>He sat next to her on the bed, handing her the pill and the glass of Whiskey. </p><p>“Take this,” he told her.</p><p>Astrid stared at him “What is it?”</p><p>“It’s gonna help you sleep.”</p><p>She shook her head “But I don’t want to sleep.” She told him sternly, she turned to face him on the bed “Wait, are you trying to kill me?”</p><p>Ray shook his head fiercely “No darling! I would never! But you’ve just been through something very traumatic. You should lie down for a bit—and when you wake up, it will all have disappeared.” He told her.</p><p>“Even the guy tied to the chair?” Astrid asked.</p><p>He nodded “Especially the guy tied to the chair.” he said sternly.</p><p>Astrid crossed her arms “Who is he?” She asked softly.</p><p>“He…” Ray thought of all the lies he could tell her about Fletcher, but he knew she would see right through them “He’s a journalist. He’s caused Mickey and myself a lot of trouble over the years. But don’t worry about it, love. Take the pill, drink the whiskey, and have a nap. Alright?”</p><p>She stared at him “Are you going to kill him?” </p><p>“That’s not for you to be concerned about.”</p><p>“I want you to kill him!” Astrid insisted, her hand moving to his thigh. </p><p>He frowned “Astrid,”</p><p>“He was with them. I saw it. If he’s been causing you guys trouble plus this, then get rid of him.” Astrid interrupted.</p><p>Ray was startled, he had never seen Astrid like this before. He wasn’t sure to be frightened of her or concerned for her, but it was too fresh of an incident to ask. </p><p>“I...will...consider it.” He spoke gently “But in the meantime, please take the pill.” he almost pleaded with her. </p><p>Astrid huffed, grabbing the pill and popping it into her mouth before she chugged the drink of whiskey, handing Ray back the glass before she got under the covers. Ray placed the glass down on her night table and looked down at her--her wet hair pressed against the pillow and her blue eyes glared at him in frustration, he just smiled at her as he stroked her cheek. </p><p>“I love you,” he said, leaning down to kiss her “I will see you when you wake up.” he said, watching Astrid frown as she rolled to her side and closed her eyes. Ray immediately stood up and left the bedroom, softly closing the door behind him. </p><p>
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</p><p>He stomped down the stairs, to his left he saw Bunny and Dave begin to carry the bodies across the house “If you get one drop of blood on my carpet, I will kill both of you.” he hissed, walking into his kitchen where Mickey was standing at the isle, going through a stack of photos he found in Fletcher’s handbag. </p><p>“Anything?” Ray asked.</p><p>Mickey flipped to the next picture, his stance changed and his eyebrow arched as he looked at Raymond and showed him the picture. It was clear as day: Astrid bent over the BBQ pit in the backyard, naked, with Ray behind her, also naked. Pounding into her like an animal. Ray grabbed the picture, half in embarrassment, but also out of pure anger that Fletcher had been watching. </p><p>The American opened his mouth to say something.</p><p>“Don’t!” Ray said firmly, sticking his index finger out at Mickey. </p><p>Mickey tried to hide a smirk “I wasn’t going to say anything!”</p><p>Ray flared at his boss. Of course he wanted to say something! It was just who Mickey was—regardless of whether he had just seen a pornographic picture of Astrid or not. Ray frowned at Mickey before he stormed into his dining area, showing Fletcher the picture.</p><p>“You think this is funny??” Ray yelled.</p><p>Fletcher smirked “Actually, yes, I do!”</p><p>Ray dropped the picture on the floor and immediately punched Fletcher square in the jaw. Mickey winced as he watched Ray grab Fletcher by his collar.</p><p>“And what did you tell them this time, eh, Fletcher?” Ray asked, punching him again.</p><p>Fletcher spit out a mouthful of blood onto Ray’s wood flooring “Nothing that they didn’t already know...except maybe how your obsession with your new girlfriend is distracting you. Making it easier for them to get to Mickey—but had I known you were dating a fucking psychopath, Raymond, I wouldn’t have said anything!” He said, before chuckling “Maybe that’s why you can’t stay off of her?” he teased.</p><p>Ray grinded his teeth, leaning down to meet Fletcher at eye level, with both hands resting on the arms of the chair “She told me to kill you,” he said coldly “She wants you gone. No mercy, no asking me to take it easy on you because you’re a little cunt. Murder.” He told the journalist. </p><p>Fletcher swallowed hard “Take your time then, Darling. Make it worth my while.”</p><p>Mickey cleared his throat, Ray looked over at his boss who blushed as he showed Ray another picture: another pornographic picture starring Ray and Astrid. A different night. Ray remembered it fondly, until…</p><p>He punched Fletcher so hard, the chair fell over and Fletcher laid against the cold wooden floor. Ray heaved as he looked at Mickey “Watch him, I’m gonna grab Bunny. I’m going to make this quick.” He snarled before leaving the dining room.</p><p>
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</p><p>Her eyes shot open, she felt groggy and uncoordinated as she rolled over to look out the window at the morning sun. Astrid slowly sat up in bed, glancing over at Ray’s side to see it still freshly made but he was nowhere in sight. </p><p>She groaned as she pushed the sheets away from her body and got out of bed, walking out of the bedroom and down the hall where she heard noise coming downstairs, she picked at the inner corner of her eyes while going down the stairs and walking across the foyer hall and into the kitchen to find Ray making a mess for the first time for as long as she had known him. </p><p>He looked up and smiled brightly “Good Morning, Star! You were out for quite awhile! Feeling refreshed I hope.” he said, flipping over the pancake “Are you hungry?” he asked. </p><p>Something was wrong. The memories from yesterday were coming back to her and she stormed across the kitchen to look at the dining table: No Fletcher. She swallowed hard before she looked at him “You alright, love?” Ray asked.</p><p>Astrid hummed, walking back out of the kitchen and across the hall once again and went down into the basement. She turned the light on. Nothing! No bodies, no blood pools on the floor. It didn’t even remotely smell like bleach. </p><p>“Astrid?” Ray called out, following her down to the basement. </p><p>She walked to the freezer, Ray watched as she abruptly opened it to find just Wagyu. No dead bodies stuffed in the freezer. <em> Like it didn’t even fucking happen. </em></p><p>“Astrid, what are you doing?” Ray asked her softly.</p><p>She looked at him, sighing heavily as he walked towards her with a soft smile on his face “Come back upstairs, I don’t want your breakfast getting cold.” he said, taking her hand and guiding her back upstairs and into the kitchen. </p><p>He sat her down at the dining table and left her to finish the last pancake, Astrid looked out into the backyard as the foggy London scene lulled Astrid for what felt like an instant before Ray set a plate of pancakes with fruit in front of her and taking a seat next to her with his own plate “Enjoy!” he said, digging into his.</p><p>Astrid watched him, not even acknowledging the plate in front of her “So, we’re just going to pretend that it didn’t even happen?” she asked him.</p><p>Ray managed to get one bite of pancakes in before he put his fork and knife down and sighed, chewing on his pancake. She waited, staring him down with daggers in her eyes before he swallowed and looked up at her “I told you not to worry about it. I took care of it.” he said. </p><p>“What did you do to him?” Astrid asked. </p><p>He opened his mouth to speak. </p><p>“DON’T TELL ME NOT TO FUCKING WORRY ABOUT IT!” she yelled at him, slamming her hand down onto the dining table “What did you do to him? Answer me!” she hissed.</p><p>Ray looked at her, he didn’t like being yelled at--even by Astrid, he swallowed his anger and reached out to push her plate closer to her “Don’t let your breakfast get cold.” he muttered. </p><p>She shook her head, pushing her chair back and leaving the dining room in a huff, stomping up the stairs before slamming the bedroom door closed. He was going to give her a minute; a minute to calm down and compose herself, a minute to let her anger subside before he went up to talk to her. He also wanted a minute to finish his pancakes because he actually did pretty good this time.  </p><p>He took one more bite before pushing his chair back and walked across his living room to head upstairs, only to meet Astrid as she came down in her clothes. </p><p>“Astrid,” he said.</p><p>“I have to get to work.” she said, not even looking at him as she walked past him.</p><p>He reached for her arm, but missed her, he just stood there and watched as she opened the door and left the house. No ‘see you tonight’, no kiss on the way out. She just left.  He shook his head, stomping out the front door to stop Astrid as she began to back out of the courtyard driveway.</p><p>She rolled down the window, huffing as she glared at him, unamused by his stance as he leaned down to look at her. </p><p>“I don’t want you to leave angry,” he told her. </p><p>Astrid rolled her eyes at him “I don’t care what you want,” she told him “You think you’re trying to protect me, but you’re not.” she paused before shaking her head “I’ll be home tonight.” she said, backing the car out of the driveway and left, leaving Ray alone. </p><p>“No good deed goes unpunished…” he muttered “No good deed.” </p>
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